“ My dream is to build a kind of organic farm that people could visit. It would have a big piece of land for growing organic vegetables, as well as fishponds and a resting place. There, as well as enjoying the beauty of nature, people would also be able to learn how to grow organic vegetables.”

So says Ibu Napsiah, 48, an organic vegetable farmer from Pulungdowo village, Malang, East Java, Indonesia. I have no idea how long she’ll need to make her dream come true. But one thing’s for sure, the 500 m2 of land on which she has grown organic vegetables for the past year is getting greener and greener.
Napsiah never imagined that her attempts at growing vegetables would bear fruit. From this small piece of land, Napsiah is now able to earn a living. Growing vegetables with her husband, Jalan, supplements their income from rice farming. “From the rice harvest I used to get about Rp 840,000 every four months. Now, on top of that I have extra income of Rp 300,000 – Rp 400,000 a month from 500m2 of land.” (400,000 Indonesian rupiah is about US$48.)
“So, let’s learn together about organic farming. Because organic farming is good for the family economy, and good for other people too. It’s easy. You just have to be patient and care for your plants,” said Napsiah

“Before my wife started this business, I thought of rice as our main source of income. The vegetables were just a sideline. Now, I think of the organic vegetables my wife grows as our family’s main source of income,” Ibu Jalan, Napsiah’s husband.

The success of her business has introduced Napsiah to totally new experiences. A tertiary college in Malang invited her to share experiences about growing organic vegetables. “Oh, I was so nervous having to speak in front of educated people,” she said. She also delights in sharing her experience with her neighbours. It comes as no surprise that many of the people living near Napsiah have started to follow in her footsteps.

The story began when Mitra Bumi Indonesia (MBI), a local NGO supported by Oxfam based in Malang, East Java, began promoting organic vegetable farming. At that time, Napsiah’s son, Suprie, a student in the Faculty of Agriculture at Brawijaya University, was doing his field work at MBI and got hold of some organic vegetable seed from the organisation. Napsiah and Suprie tried planting the seeds on 50m2 of land. They planted five kinds of vegetables on 1m2 plots. Napsiah had her doubts. “Would it be possible to make a profit growing vegetables on such small plots of land?

Her doubts proved unfounded when she was able to harvest vegetables twice a week. And that’s what sparked her interest in this business, all the more so when she discovered that it was cheaper to grow vegetables organically, because she could produce the production inputs, such as organic fertiliser, herself.

These vegetables are sold to shops managed by MBI. Supported by Oxfam GB since 2001 these shops have specialised in taking delivery of organic farm products, especially vegetables, from farmers like Napsiah. The shops provide Napsiah and other organic vegetable farmers supported by MBI with an outlet for their organic vegetables, for which prices and quality standards are jointly agreed. Of course, the MBI shops cannot take delivery of all the organic vegetables they produce. Napsiah explains that they also sell their products on the local markets, although generally at a price lower than the retail price in the MBI shops.

As well as promoting organic farming, MBI also promotes the principles of fair trade to farmers and consumers, which at the farmer level means encouraging farmers to take into account the aspects of strengthening environmental quality, strengthening social relations and especially awareness of gender equity, and strengthening financial assets. These aspects are included in the calculation of production costs so that a fair price can be agreed for these products.

With MBI support, these vegetable farmers learn to calculate basic selling prices by factoring in not only production costs, but also crop failure insurance, the cost of saving for the future, and the cost of saving to develop their farming businesses. They also learn how to organise themselves and how unfair practices affect women. Every six months, calculations of production costs and consistency with the principles of fair trade are evaluated. MBI guarantees that all the products it sells in its shops are produced organically and traded according to the international principles of fair trade.

“We have to stop giving poisons to our children,” said Mr. Bambang, a loyal MBI customer.

MBI also arranges campaigns, exhibitions and meetings between producers and consumers, not only to build public awareness of the principles of fair trade and protection of the rights of small farmers and to promote fair trade, but also to stimulate public interest in organic products. In this way, MBI has managed to net 60 loyal customers and 120 – 150 regular customers. One loyal MBI customer, Ibu Rudi, says that although many organic vegetable products are available in the big supermarkets, she prefers to shop in MBI shops because she can be sure that these products have really been grown organically and by poor farmers. Ibu Rudi has taken part in a meeting between producers and consumers held in Pulungdowo village.

Motivating farmers to adopt organic farming is not easy. Nor does success come easily. “You have to work harder and be more patient,” explains Napsiah. She says the greatest challenge in fact comes from the land cultivated by her neighbours who still use non-organic inputs such as chemical fertilisers.

As an institution, MBI still faces many challenges in achieving its goal of building more humanitarian relationships between farming and the environment, and between producers and consumers. A great many “organic” products available on the market that are produced by large-scale enterprises are not produced according to the principles that MBI thinks are correct. The challenge of working with small farmers lies not only in strengthening values but also in how to apply these values.

Another challenge is the government policy known as “Go Pertanian Organik 2010” or “Go Organic Farming 2010”, in which organic farming inputs are factory produced. Some farmers worry that little thought is given to the aspect of harmony in the relationship between humans and between humans and the environment.
At the most practical level, MBI must be able to maintain productivity (reliability, quantity and quality), while keeping up the farmers’ interest (ensuring that their awareness and needs are the reasons that farmers practice organic farming), maintaining customer loyalty, and exploring ways to internalise the values MBI promotes. MBI’s own challenge lies in making sure that the organisation continues to live up to its motto, which is “continuous, consistent and responsible concrete action.”

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